


Serendipity

by Catharsystemic



Series: NeoCity [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Backstory, Cyberpunk, Drinking, Dubious Morality, Fluff, Jungwoo android, M/M, Nakamoto Yuta-centric, Past Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 23:18:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17590298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catharsystemic/pseuds/Catharsystemic
Summary: A Bored businessman finds a broken android in an antiques shop.  The Zeus is broken and badly out of date but Yuta feels inexplicably drawn to it.Stockbroker Yuta and android Jungwoo





	Serendipity

In Neocity you could buy almost anything, if you had the credits to spare of course, and Yuta Nakamoto was rolling in them. He was a senior broker on the SM trading floor, making clever sales and predicting the markets with ease. This brought him acclaim and renown in the financial world and earned him more credits than he knew what to do with. 

"Oh, poor you" Doyoung had scoffed during yet another late night drinking session. "I'm so rich I've run out of ridiculous shit to buy." When his friend could be persuaded to make a sensible suggestion without eye rolling or excessive sarcasm he eventually suggested an android. It made sense, really. Anyone who was anyone owned a robot aide or personal companion. They could be programmed for any known human function and their price ceiling made them an aspirational purchase for a well heeled young businessman. 

"And you're lonely." Doyoung continued over the glass of wine "It'll keep you company. You'll be like one of those women who come home to their cats." 

"I'd rather have a cat." Yuta muttered, wondering why he even bothered asking the cynical, abrasive Doyoung anything. Much less inviting him into his home and letting him drink his alcohol. 

"But didn't you want to show off how filthy, stinking rich you are to random hook ups?" Doyoung needled, quirking his lips up. 

"You know credit value isn't stable. It's best to spend while the exchange rate is favourable. And yeah, kinda." Yuta wasn't lonely, per se. He had friends aplenty and no shortage of people who wanted to spend the night. But when his house only echoed with his own footsteps it did feel like something indeterminable was missing. The logical solution would be to find a long term partner, someone to share his oversized loft and life with. But the idea of seeing other people's hair in his shower plug, drool on his pillows and stinking sneakers in his hallway turned his stomach utterly. 

In his half drunk mind DY's android idea actually made a degree of sense. But in the cold light of day, Yuta had no idea what he was doing. He wanted something unusual, obscure, just the right side of extravagant without being vulgar. He had strayed further into central Neocity than he had initially intended and had reached the part of the city where shops began to give way to the housing of the narrows. 

He definitely needed to turn around and head back. That was when he caught sight of a 20th century style antiques emporium with a plate glass window and decided to enter on a whim. The shop was a contradiction. Victorian ephemera jostled with turn of the millennium oddities. But none were so eye-catching as the flame haired android, the sole neo age piece amongst the bizarre amalgam of objects. It was the hair that initially caught his attention. It stood out like a beacon, literally illuminating the air around it and causing tiny motes of dust to dance as the android moved around the overcrowded space with ease. 

"Are you for sale?" Yuta was struck by the beauty of the male android. Tall, slender and beautifully proportioned. But his face was the most striking thing: perfectly symmetrical with captivating features. 

"I will need to ask the proprietor " came a soft voice paired with a quizzical expression. Too gentle to be human. Everything about the strange android was soft. Most androids were angular, hard edged things, as if reminding you viscerally of their robot biology. yet Yuta felt instinctively protective of the sweet voiced model. 

The tall android returned from the back of the shop with an elderly man, leading him gently to a stool by the counter. He quietly retreated to allow the men to converse in privacy while watching from a distance with an inquisitive expression. Cute, Yuta thought. 

"What can I do for you Sir?" The man eyed him, appraising the cut of his suit and the shine of his antique timepiece. "Are you interested in vintage Apple communicators? Or are you more of an Android collector?" 

"Could you tell me more about your android? Your assistant not the phones." Maybe he'd come back for the antique phones later. 

"Jungwoo has been with me for a while. A few years now." The shop owner gave a smile that could only be described as paternal. "He helps around the shop and keeps me company." Jungwoo smiled back at hearing his name and Yuta felt his heart turn over. 

"But technically speaking he is a Zeus model, very popular some years ago. Only decommissioned recently. But you know how it is. Technology becomes obsolete almost instantaneously. And poor Jungwoo was overshadowed by the newer models. The Apollo and the Dionysus and so forth. Nothing ever lasts these days." The elderly proprietor moved to rearrange a replica Ming vase filled with tamagotchis . 

"Its the standard operating model. As you can tell the previous owners were fond of customisation, gesturing to the bright hair "but I've grown to like them myself." The additions were indeed fascinating, unique even. Flawlessly incorporated and added by a meticulous hand. 

"What's his...its previous history?" Yuta corrected himself. He was already, foolishly, beginning to think of the charming creation as human. 

"Not good, I'm afraid. You know how some people treat androids." He knew. People can be revolting and prone to hurting and violating those they consider beneath them. His stomach roiled at the thought of the abuses he'd heard of being inflicted on the android quietly playing with a set of light up yo-yos. 

It felt strange to contemplate buying something that looked so hauntingly human and innocent. This wasn't something he envisaged happening; thinking of what amounted to a sequence of code with a pretty package as sentient, feeling. Living. Was this a violation in itself? Buying a thing that was identical to a person in all ways but one. 

He would do better. Yuta swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. He would offer and let Jungwoo choose. Even if that was inexplicable, androids did as their owners wished, as they were programmed. As a rational man, Yuta knew this was ridiculous. But as a human being he couldn't just buy a person. The more he saw of Jungwoo interacting with the elderly owner, playing with the store merchandise, his gentle demeanour the less he felt he could force his will on him. 

He cleared his throat and caught Jungwoos wide eyes. "Would you like to come with me? I'd like to buy you. But I wont, if you're happier here." He couldn't bear the thought of Jungwoo declining but it would be worse to take him against his will. 

The android looked at his current owner and back to Yuta in confusion, a crease between his eyebrows and chose not to speak at all. 

"Can I come back to visit?" Jungwoo asked quietly. 

"Whenever you want." Yuta found himself promising. 

There was an ocean of silence before the eventual answer came: "Yes."

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've written in years so please be kind. It's sort of an entry fic for a whole cyberpunk AU universe combining all the Regulars. I wanted to get back into writing with something short before doing a full chaptered fic. 
> 
> btw I miss orange haired Jungwoo.


End file.
